1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to electronic circuits and more specifically to a resistive non-volatile memory (RNVM).
2. Related Art
Non-volatile memories retain their stored states when power is removed, and have become important in a number of applications. However, typically, non-volatile memories have characteristics that make them difficult to use, such as slow program and erase operations, inability to erase one bit at a time, and high voltage requirements for programming. Some resistive non-volatile memories overcome these difficulties, such as magnetic random access memory (MRAM), making MRAM a candidate for use as a random access memory. MRAM stores a memory state by changing a resistance of a resistive element called a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). One problem with MRAM is that the difference in resistance between a low state and a high state may be very small, making it difficult to reliably sense the stored state. Variation in resistance values across an array, caused by for example, layout, process, and temperature changes, may be significant. The resistance variation across the MTJs of the array may be large enough to cause a sensed voltage across the MTJ to overlap a fixed reference voltage, making sensing the stored state impossible.
Therefore, a need exists for a RNVM that solves the above problems.